FLORIDA NEEDS TOP-NOTCH SCHOOL OF ELECTRONICS, BUSINESSMAN WARNS

Florida's electronics industry generated $30 billion in direct and indirect revenue in 1986, but will stagnate unless the state improves the "credibility" of its university and research environment, a computer company president said on Friday.

The speaker, Modular Computer Systems President Gabriel Rosica, was addressing about 100 people at a high-technology conference called "Innovation 88: A Florida Initiative." More than anything, Rosica emphasized the role of education in building up the state's high-tech industries.

Rosica said Florida would be better served by one "world-class" college of electronics than by five "almost world-class universities" that have funding limitations. Now, he said, Florida's top electronic engineering school, the University of Florida, is about 250 miles away from the state's high-tech business center in Southeast Florida, and the state's transportation system is "absolutely terrible."

Rosica warned of being overly zealous in the pursuit of growth and the desire to develop a stronger manufacturing economy in the state. Manufacturing plants that are built merely for production, he said, are the first to be closed in business downturns.

"We can't lose sight of the fact that research and development forms the bedrock of manufacturing," Rosica said. "We don't want manufacturing in this state without research and development. It's the worst thing you can do."

Instead, the state should foster growth that is less subject to swings in the national economy, he said.

Florida's electronics employment has fallen for three years, as companies have laid off workers and closed plants in response to more competitive markets. But the state's educational and tranportation infrastructure could bring it down further, Rosica said.

"All of this says that while we've got some good things going on, we are very vulnerable to a national slowdown in the electronics industry," he said.

Richard Fox, vice president of Gould Inc.'s Vision Systems Operations, said the idea of Florida as a hotbed of technological activity is "baloney." Citing various studies, Fox said the industries that make Florida a leader in business start-ups and job creation are restaurants, motels, banks, bowling alleys and other services. Very little money goes into high-tech start-ups, he said.

The state currently maintains a $1.25 million fund to provide high-tech start-up firms with seed capital in exchange for part ownership. However, the effort is considered small, and the Florida Legislature is proposing to create a public-private pool of at least $3 million.

Maury Hagerman, a Florida Commerce Department official known as the "father of Florida entrepreneurship," said the state is "emerging from its cocoon" as a high-tech center.